Newsrooms are laying off reporters and using freelancers, even citizen journalists with blogs, to help bring the news to you. It used to be that a reporter had to validate her/his sources. Now the source may actually be writing the story...and the news outlet may or may not scrutinize it.
I feel as if we are poised on the edge of a news credibility free- fall. A free and open press (or broadcast, new media, etc.) is not only threatened on one end by media conglomeration (many news outlets owned by big business), but by public mistrust on the other.
As a world citizen, regardless of my profession (media relations) or the news coverage I hope to get for my clients, I need accurate news in order to live calmly and confidently.
Without accurate news (I know, I know...I've heard people say it is never accurate), I am mercilessly manipulated, government makes bad decisions, elections are skewed and businesses have no true forecast of the future. When business becomes unsure...so does the economy.
An article from Publishing 2.0 offers additional details. Also, a frightening example from PBS's Media Shift, The Benefits and Pitfalls of Using Social Media for Reporting:
"Such is the case of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, son of slain former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. Back in the old days, after a major event like Bhutto’s assassination, a reporter might jump through hoops trying to score an interview with a member of her family. These days it seems that at least some reporters can’t be bothered, and turned immediately to social networks to see if they could gain insight into his thoughts.
Several big news companies — among them London’s Telegraph and Agence France Presse — lifted quotes about Islam from her son’s Facebook profile. The only problem was that the profile was fake. In this case, traditional media in all its experience didn’t know that social media sources can be a minefield, and it exploded in their faces. Had the “joke” not been discovered sooner or the fake quotes more inflammatory, this could have had serious political implications."
I'm in no position to help ailing newsrooms, but I hear the pain in the voices of the reporters at the other end of the phone. Things are very intense in the journalism world.
What I can do...is offer up some gut-checks:
1. If you are already a citizen journalist providing information to legitimate news outlets, I sincerely hope you have openly disclosed any conflicts of interest. If you haven't, both you and the news outlet using you could suffer a credibility loss that is publicly brutal and long-lasting.
2. If you are a PR or media relations executive, I hope you haven't tried to place stories about your company or clients under the guise of being a freelancer or citizen journalist. Please, for the sake of the reputation of my chosen field - public relations/media relations - re-evaluate your strategy. Ask the question: What will it mean to my future career and the future of my client/company if I engage in this activity?
3. If you are posting online and saying great things about your company/product/clients without disclosing your conflict of interest, be warned...the public gets smarter by the day and resents news manipulation.
4. If you are a political blogger raving about your candidate of choice, have you made a donation to her/his campaign? Are you a campaign volunteer? Are you on the payroll? If so, you owe it to all of us to disclose the fact.
In ten years we will know the outcome of this frightening, yet invigorating turning point. I want good memories, not nightmares.
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